The preferred embodiments of the present invention generally relate to electrocardiogram management systems, and in particular relate to a method and system for high availability (HA) deployment of an off-site management system for digital cardiac electrocardiograms (ECGs) operating in an application service provider (ASP) model.
An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a graphical record of a heart's electrical activity. Typically, ECGs may be obtained as part of routine patient examination. Typically, ECGs may be repeated and updated to maintain a history of a patient's ECGs. An ECG history for a patient may be used to monitor and chart a patient's health and cardiac function.
In order to obtain an ECG, electrodes or electrocardiographic leads may be placed on a patient in areas such as a patient's arms, legs, and chest. ECG readings may be taken on an ECG table. ECG readings may also be obtained with a portable unit. Additionally, ECG data may be recorded using a wearable monitor. Typically, ECGS are recorded electronically. Additionally, ECGs may be charted on paper with an instrument such as a stylus.
The reliable management of ECGs is important to help ensure the availability of ECG information during diagnosis and treatment of a patient. Availability of ECG information is important during diagnosis and treatment of a patient in order to monitor a patient's health and cardiac function. For example, a healthcare practitioner (such as a physician, nurse, assistant, technician, or other medical professional, for example) may use trends in ECG patterns to diagnose a cardiac condition in a patient. Additionally, awareness of a cardiac condition in a patient may affect the course of treatment prescribed by the healthcare practitioner.
Quality and reliability often translate into success in the medical device marketplace. For example, an ECG management system may serve more than thirty customers. A failure in the ECG management system may result in dissatisfaction with the ECG management system and with a company's services. Customer dissatisfaction may affect future business opportunities for the company. Thus, there is a need to reduce errors and failures in ECG management systems to provide quality service. Additionally, there is a need for an ECG management system designed with high availability to improve ECG management system up-time and availability of information for medical diagnosis and treatment.
Currently, a service technician is typically dispatched to a customer site in the event of an ECG management system failure. Often, service calls by a service technician to a customer site may be expensive and time-consuming due to the location of the customer site, the nature of the problem, and the timing of the call. Thus, there is a need for redundant, high availability systems to reduce the dispatch of service technicians to a customer site. A reduction in service calls may reduce the amounts paid for service support, especially during expensive periods such as holidays, weekends, or nights.
A highly available or high availability system is defined in the art as a system that provides reliable access, such as through redundant systems and redundant storage to help ensure reliable storage and retrieval of data and services, for example. A highly available system design may improve operation of an ECG management system for operations of a customer such as a healthcare facility (such as a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, or other medical office, for example) through reliable storage and retrieval of ECGs. For example, a reliable ECG management system allows ECG data to be available for use by a cardiologist or other user in treatment and diagnosis by helping to prevent system failures and system downtime. Availability of data helps allow a cardiologist or other such user to read and diagnose cardiac complications quickly. Thus, prompt access to data and diagnosis of the data help allow a cardiologist to provide a high level of care to a patient.
Additionally, remote, centralized access to ECG data may allow multiple users to reliably access ECG data. Centralized ECG storage may allow computing resources and support to be pooled in a smaller number of locations. In the field of computers, Application Service Providers (ASPs) have been employed to allow for centralized access and storage of data. ASPs operate as hosts for data and applications. Typically, ASPs maintain applications and data in an off-site data center. ASPs have been hired by companies in the field of computers to manage data and computer applications. Companies may access data and applications via an ASP. Typically, in the computer field, companies remotely access data and applications via an ASP central data location.
In the field of computers, ASPs may offer several desirable services, such as secure data storage, data backup, and redundant systems. Because ASPs offer such services, a customer of an ASP may not have to incur additional expenses for its own security, backup, and storage systems. In addition to functioning as a remote database, ASPs may host a number of applications that may be activated or accessed remotely by customers. By concentrating computing power and maintenance at the ASP, the ASP may offer continuous access to and support of the applications and alleviate the need for the customer to purchase and maintain its own expensive computer equipment. For example, ASPs may provide installation, management, and support of applications and storage of data for many remote clients. Client data may be stored at a remote data center. Data may be retrieved from a remote data center via a communications medium such as the Internet or a private network.
There is a need in the medical field for centralized remote access to ECG data for use in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. There is also a need for reliable access to ECG data to help ensure that the ECG data may be used by healthcare practitioners in diagnosis and treatment of patients. There is a further need for a highly available ECG management system to support reliable access to ECG data.
Thus, there is a need in the medical field for a remote, centralized, reliable, high availability ECG management system to help ensure access by healthcare practitioners to ECG data to support diagnosis and treatment of patients. Central, remote maintenance may reduce the resources employed at healthcare facilities by reducing manual transfer of ECG data between healthcare facilities and by reducing resources for the maintenance of ECG data at healthcare facilities. Redundant, high availability systems may improve reliability of access to ECG data by healthcare practitioners for diagnosis and treatment of patients by reducing system failures. Thus, a need exists for a method and system for high availability deployment of an off-site management system for digital cardiac electrocardiograms operating in an application service provider model.